


Appleseed

by blueberryfallout



Category: Turbo Kid
Genre: AU: Canon Changes, Gen, apple was more fun and i loved her, robots are cool
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 14:24:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9275948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueberryfallout/pseuds/blueberryfallout
Summary: who watched turbo kid? no one? only me? awesome.anyway, this movie was super fun and if you have seen it, imagine that the kid died instead of apple, and now she has to try to figure out what it means to be almost human





	

**Author's Note:**

> who watched turbo kid? no one? only me? awesome.
> 
> anyway, this movie was super fun and if you have seen it, imagine that the kid died instead of apple, and now she has to try to figure out what it means to be almost human

Apple loves people. She _really_ , **_really_** loves people. She was built that way. Except, as she holds the Kid’s head in her lap, Apple is thinking that she really doesn’t love Zeus, who, actually, wasn’t a person at all. He was a robot, like her, who had something wrong with him. Bucked his programming and starting thinking just like Apple does, except he wasn’t nice at _all_.

And now the Kid is dying, because he threw himself in front of her when the bomb exploded. Humans are so messy, there’s red all over her hands and her processors are whirring furiously as she tries to put him back together though she knows it’s pointless. She tried to do that with her last best friend, and it didn’t work then either. He just got all mushy and soft and then she didn’t like to look at him anymore. The Kid gasps out her name one final time, fingers curling around her wrists. Apple taught him to _fight_ , she thinks frantically, the Kid _kissed_ her. He shouldn’t be dead. It’s not fair.

She takes the very special helmet he always wore off, putting it on herself. There’s a fingernail dangling from the visor that she flicks away, watching it land on the ground. Looking up, she realizes there’s water flowing up from the ground, and water is _very important_ to humans, they need it to keep working. It splatters over her face, making Apple very thankful that her circuits are waterproof.  
The Kid would’ve been proud of himself; this much water will save lives, though not his. A separate drop of water lands on his face; she doesn’t realize what it is until she reaches up to touch her own cheek. Those are tears. Apple didn’t even know she could cry.

“Hey. Kid.” Apple turns her head, getting to her feet at the same time. It’s the arm-wrestler, the one who has a robot hand now. Frederic. 

“Hello. My name is Apple!” she greets, cheery as her programming demands. She looks down at the Kid, feeling much less than cheery. Should she bury him? Would he have liked that? 

Frederic takes her wrist, robot fingers overly gentle against her synthetic skin. Perhaps he doesn’t know she’s not human? “I know. Let’s get out of here.” 

“But…” She gestures helplessly at the Kid, his eyes dull, mouth slack. He looks diminished without the helmet. 

“The scavengers will get him,” Frederic says carelessly, already turning away. 

“I don’t like that,” she announces, digging her heels in; it’s impossible for even a very strong grown man to tug her anywhere, if she doesn’t want to go. “We should bury him.” The last best friend, Apple didn’t worry about burying. Things have changed now, though; _Apple_ has changed. She wants to be able to choose her own friends rather than having to befriend everyone she meets. 

Frederic examines her face, and she beams as wide as possible, which is pretty wide, friendship robots having been made to look approachable. “Well. Sure. If you want to. Waste of time though.” 

Apple doesn’t bother arguing. Instead, she hefts the Kid over her shoulder and walks back to the swingset where they first met, where her last best friend also lies. Frederic ambles along behind her, apparently unwilling to leave her alone. Which is good, because friendship robots **hate** being alone. They shut down without enough companionship. 

He watches without expression as she digs a hole with her bare hands, the sand here soft enough that it doesn’t peel her skin away from her circuitry. When it’s so deep that nothing will be smelling him to dig up, she lays him gently down, smoothing the hair away from his face, feeling a pang deep in her processors that’s like nothing she’s ever felt before. It _hurts_ , it feels like the time she was between best friends for a week in the wastelands only worse, only even more lonely.

After kissing his forehead like that movie she saw once she hops easily out of his grave and next to Frederic, who helps her push sand and dirt back in without speaking. Removing the helmet, she leaves it there, a marker and a reminder of what lies beneath. 

When they’re done, the sun has begun to set, and Frederic should really be getting inside. It’s dangerous after dark for humans; not for her, she’ll be fine no matter what. “You should go inside,” she says aloud, surprised by thoughts that aren’t just ‘make friends’ or ‘be happy’. Is this what it’s like to truly think for herself? “I don’t have to go with you.”

“Uh…huh…” Frederic says, giving her a long look from under his hat. “And why’s that?”

“Because I don’t have to be friends with people if I don’t want to,” she reveals, an epiphany that feels better even than being fully charged. She smiles with the thought of it. “But I do want to be friends with you, so I’m coming!” 

“Good. It’s dangerous for a pretty girl to be out alone at night,” Frederic scowls, scanning the horizon, presumably for shelter. It’s alright, though, Apple remembers where the Kid’s shelter was, and he wouldn’t have minded her sharing. Friends are supposed to share.

“I’m a robot,” she points out, confused. He should remember that after the Kid’s efforts to reactivate her.

“Still a pretty girl.”

“That was a very kind compliment. Thank you!” 

Frederic turns, peering at her face, then huffs a laugh. “You’re not even being sarcastic, are you?”

“What is sarcasm?” They’ve reached their destination, so instead of answering, Frederic hefts open the portal and motions for her to head down the ladder. Already she can hear the far-off howling of the Nuke-Wolves going on their nightly hunts. She’s lost two best friends to them before; they are very unfriendly.

The room is dark when she gets down there, because the Kid hasn’t been back to recharge the power cells. Thinking of him, something in her processors hurts. There’s a clatter and a thump before she can sense Frederic behind her, breathing heavily. Smoking is bad for human lungs, but they do it anyway because they are contrary, her first best friend told her once. 

“So, how’d you find this place?”

“It was the Kid’s,” she tells him. “And now it’s ours.” 

“Ours, huh? We’re together now?”

“Yes. Everybody wants a friendship robot.” She had been reassured of this many times, when she was first created.

“Sure.” Frederic sprawls himself across the bed that still has Turbo Rider sheets, stretching himself out, looking far too big for it. He takes the hat off, placing it on the nearby shelf, and shuts his eyes. There are a few seconds before she crawls in next to him, effortlessly brushing his flailing arms away. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He growls, sitting up so she has to look up through her eyelashes at him. 

“Sleeping!” she answers with her sunniest grin. 

“You’re a robot.” 

“I still need to sleep.” That said, she settles onto her side, back turned to him, and shuts her eyes. He spits and sputters for a bit before lying back down as well, sprawling all over her. 

“You try any funny business, and I’m knocking your lights out, robot or not,” he husks, and Apple beams at the wall opposite, seeing easily in the dark. 

“Oh, I’m not programmed to be funny!”

There’s a long pause, then a muttered, “Jesus Christ.”


End file.
